Raspberry Bavarian Creme in Chocolate Cookie Bowls

A few years back in our very small apartment we hosted our first “dinner party.” It was for a set of parents- I can’t remember if it was mine or Adam’s, not that it matters. Although I was a pretty good cook then, I didn’t have much of a repertoire at that point. So I turned to my favorite place, my Betty Crocker cookbook. And there was something both easy and impressive, Raspberry Bavarian Crème. But I didn’t just want to serve some pudding stuff in a bowl and garnish it, so I went to my second favorite place for inspiration- the Internet! There I found a recipe that I modified to create an edible chocolate cookie dish to serve my new treat in. Hope someone out there can whip up these gourmet looking meal for guests, or just for a nice night in with a loved one!


Raspberry Bavarian Crème
(From Betty Crocker’s Cookbook)

• 2 Small (Single Serve) Raspberry Yogurt containers (low-fat is just fine)
  
• 1 Package Instant Vanilla (or French Vanilla) Pudding
  
• 1 C. Heavy Cream
  
• Red Food Dye (optional)
  
• Fresh or Thawed Frozen Raspberries
  
• Piroline Cookies for Garnish

1. In a large bowl, mix the 2 containers of yogurt and the dry pudding with a hand mixer on low for 30 seconds.
   
2. Pour in the heavy cream and mix on medium until soft peaks form. If you feel like the mixture is too yellow due to the dye in the pudding mix, feel free to add some red food dye to make it a better pink color.
   
3. Stir in the raspberries, reserving a few for garnish if desired. Serve a scoop with fresh raspberry garnish and some cookies stuck in for style. Or wow ‘em with the chocolate cookie bowls I have below!

Chocolate Cookie Bowls

• 2 Egg Whites
  
• 1/2 C. White Sugar
  
• 1/8 C. Flour
  
• 1/8 C. Powdered Unsweetened Cocoa
  
• 1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  
• 2-3 Tbsp. Butter, Melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
   
2. In a small to medium bowl, whip the egg whites with a hand mixture until you get firm peaks.
   
3. Gently fold in the white sugar until you get a consistent texture.
   
4. Gently fold in the flour and cocoa, thickening the batter. Note about the 1/8 cups… The original recipe is not for chocolate and it only called for 1/3 cup of flour. So, I modified it to keep around half the flour and then threw in the cocoa to keep the batter the right consistency. It seems to work, so I’ve kept it!
   
5. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla, being sure to be gentle.
   
6. On a cookie sheet- either greased or covered with parchment paper- pour 3 or 4 very thin and wide circles of batter. The size can definitely be irregular and it should be around 6-8” wide. Be sure to keep it thin.
   
7. Bake for 10 minutes. As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven, use a spatula to remove the warm and soft circles and place them on an inverted glass or bowl. If they are not baked long enough, the batter will goop down and ruin your bowls. If they bake too long, they won’t be pliable enough.
   
8. Allow to cool on the inverted item and then use to serve puddings, fruit, ice cream, or anything else like that!

This was very tasty on a summer night like tonight- fresh berries and chocolate!